AI Isn’t the Enemy… But It’s Not a Magic Wand Either.
- Uncategorized
- May 21, 2025
Let’s be honest—AI isn’t the enemy. Although if you’d asked me a year ago, I would have told you otherwise. I saw it as a threat. Something cold and robotic encroaching on the uniquely human work of creativity, strategy, and connection. It felt impersonal, even dangerous, to the craft I’d built my career on.
But things change.
Now, I see AI in a different light. To me, it’s like electricity. You don’t have to love it. You don’t even need to be excited about it. But you will need it. It’s becoming a part of how we work, whether we like it or not. And when used well, it can light up the whole room.
That said, we need to talk about the way many people are using it—or trying to. There’s a common misconception floating around that AI is going to take over your job, create all your content, and handle your messaging while you sit back and watch. But that’s not innovation. That’s wishful thinking. And frankly, it’s a content fail.
AI isn’t magic.
What it produces is only ever as good as the input it’s given. If you feed it unclear, inconsistent, or shallow messaging, you’re going to get output that feels exactly that—generic, vague, and forgettable.
This is why strong foundations matter. Before you even think about using AI as a tool to help you scale, you have to be crystal clear on your core message. That message—your voice, your values, your point of view—is the engine that drives everything. Without that, AI is just another noisy machine.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that people believe they’re “training” AI to be them. That’s not what’s happening. What you’re really doing is learning how to guide it. You’re crafting the prompts, setting the tone, shaping the strategy. You’re steering the direction with clarity and intention. Used well, AI becomes a powerful fuel source. But it still needs something to power.
That something is your message.
It’s your way of showing up in the world, built strong enough to resonate deeply and flexible enough to scale. And just like any solid structure, your message needs routine maintenance. Even elite athletes revisit the basics. They don’t assume their form is flawless just because it worked last season. Your messaging deserves the same level of attention and care.
Whenever I work with clients, we always start by revisiting the foundations. Not because something is broken, but because things shift. The market changes. Your audience evolves. What worked a year ago may not work anymore. That’s why we begin with a fit check. Does your message still align with who you are and who you want to serve? Does it still reflect the version of you that’s growing and expanding?
From there, we dig into research. Gather intel from your audience. Get curious about what they’re actually thinking, feeling, and trying to solve. Look past assumptions and into the real conversations happening behind the scenes. Once we’ve got that insight, we start filling the ingredients jar—your stories, your language, your perspectives, and proof points that show you understand what your people are going through.
Only then do we connect the dots and build a message that’s stronger, clearer, and more human. That’s when we bring in AI. Not before.
AI can absolutely help you move faster.
It can repurpose content across platforms, support ideation, and save you hours. But it’s there to accelerate the work, not replace the thinking behind it. It only works when you’ve already done the foundational work.
That’s the part most people want to skip. But without that work, AI doesn’t amplify anything—it just adds more noise. When used strategically, though, it becomes a serious advantage. It can sharpen your message, speed up your process, and help you scale more powerfully. But again—it’s not a shortcut. It’s an amplifier.
So, here’s the real question: What’s your relationship with AI right now? Are you expecting it to solve your content problems for you? Or are you using it to make your good work even better?
Because if you’ve got one strong piece of content, AI can help you multiply its impact across platforms. But if the foundation is shaky, you’re just spreading that inconsistency wider and faster.
AI isn’t the enemy.
But it’s not your saviour either. It’s a tool, one that works best when it’s powered by a message that’s clear, confident, and built to scale.
Maybe the real fix isn’t in the machine. Maybe it’s time to look back at the foundation.
